The invention relates to a wind rotor or wind power system, and more specifically to a combination of wind rotor and energy transducer to provide desired output from the system and to automatically regulate the wind rotor.
The invention further relates to an improved wind rotor steering system.
Windmills have been used for centuries for various purposes, especially for lifting water. More recently windmills have been used to drive electrical generators. In such systems, the generator load characteristic does not follow, or even relate to, the power output characteristic of the wind rotor. In the present system, a wind rotor is combined with a load which matches the power characteristic of the rotor so that the rotor is optimally loaded at all times. In the present invention, wind power is converted to mechanical power to drive a positive displacement hydraulic pump and then to heat. The pump moves hydraulic fluid through a closed loop including an orifice causing heat to be generated, and a heat exchanger to extract the heat for practical use.
The invention can be summarized as a wind power system including a wind rotor with an output energy transducer which provides both a desired useful energy output and automatic optimal loading of the wind rotor at all wind velocities. The same energy transducer automatically provides the wind rotor shaft with a reaction torque which is always in balance with the restoring torque produced by the wind rotor tail. The energy transducer is a combination of positive displacement hydraulic pump and an orifice, the discharge of fluid through which generates useful heat. Overspeed protection for the wind rotor is provided by maximum hydraulic loading of the system in extreme wind conditions.
The details, operation, and benefits of the present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the accompanying drawing.